Marathas call off stir, celebrate after Maha govt concedes demands

Navi Mumbai (Thane), Jan 27 (IANS) The Maharashtra government has conceded all the major demands of the Maratha community, after which the community agitation was called off, here early on Saturday. 

The Shiv Sanghatana leader Manoj Jarange-Patil and the government delegation held detailed discussions around midnight which were successful.

Later, the government issued an official notification Government Resolution (GR), a copy of which was handed over to Jarange-Patil around 2 a.m.

Thereafter he consulted his team and a battery of legal experts on various aspects and then decided to call off the agitation.

A weary but beaming Jarange-Patil told the media early today that the "Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has done a good job".

In a reciprocal gesture, Shinde went to Navi Mumbai and offered a glass of fruit juice to Jarange-Patil, symbolising the end of his three-day hunger strike - making it the third time in six months that the Shivba Sanghatana leader has called off his fasts at the chief minister's behest.

On Jarange-Patil's prime demand of including blood relations ('Sage-Soyare') for quotas, the draft rules in the GR states that it would include relatives of the applicant's father, grandfather, great grandfather and in earlier generations forming out of marriages within the same caste, and include relations forming out of marriages within the same caste.

After the applicant submits an affidavit establishing his relations with his blood relatives like uncle, nephew and other members of the family and patriarchal relatives who have Kunbi records as the applicant's 'Sage-Soyare', after conducting a field enquiry to verify, the applicant shall be issued a Kunbi Caste certificate immediately.

Maratha leaders said that the government has also decided to withdraw all police cases filed against the community members during the 6-month long agitation.

Among those who were engaged in the night long operation included Ministers Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Deepak Kesarkar, top officers like Social Justice Department Secretary Sumant Bhange, Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner Madhukar Arangal, and chief minister's Private Secretary Amol Shinde.

Lakhs of Marathas who had gathered in Navi Mumbai erupted into dawn celebrations, playing drums, dancing and singing, hugging each other, shaking a leg with 'fugadi', distributing sweets and compliments, at the success of the long campaign.

The Marathas' leaders have announced that they will not enter Mumbai today (Saturday) as planned and after a victory rally today, the lakhs of people who trooped here from all over the state will peacefully start returning home.

--IANS

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